Vehicle and vehicle system

ABSTRACT

A vehicle may include a display, a sensor configured to detect state information related to a user and the vehicle, a communicator configured to receive travelling information related to the vehicle corresponding to the state information from an external server; and a controller configured to classify drivers having a same tendency as the user on the basis of the travelling information, generate a travel route of the vehicle on the basis of an emotion state of the user and information related to the classified drivers, and display the generated travel route on the display.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No.10-2018-0104622, filed on Sep. 3, 2018 in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein forall purposes by this reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a vehicle system including a vehicleand a server, and more specifically to a technique for generating atravel route on the basis of an emotion state of a driver and travellinginformation related to a vehicle.

Description of Related Art

In modern society, vehicles are the most common means of transportationand the number of people using vehicles is increasing. With thedevelopment of vehicle technology, a number of changes have occurred inlife, such as easy movement of long distance and convenience in life.

However, as the number of vehicles increases rapidly, traffic congestionbecomes a growing issue, and a navigation function comes into wide useas a solution to the traffic congestion.

A navigation device is designed to identify the current position of auser by receiving signals regarding the current position of the userfrom a plurality of Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites locatedabove the earth, identify the current traffic situation, and inform theuser of the shortest travel route to the destination. Aside from theabove described feature, the navigation device also serves to providethe user with various pieces of service information required fornavigation in association with a map (the current position and speed ofa moving object, the distance and route to the destination, detailedinformation related to the destination, and the like).

However, in the conventional technology for determining and providing anoptimal route between a starting point and a destination, the route isdetermined only considering a starting point, a destination, and roadtraffic information, rather than considering emotion information relatedto the driver.

Recently, there has been development of technologies for increasing theconvenience of a driver in consideration of emotional aspects of thedriver of the vehicle. In this regard, there are technologies forchanging the environment in the vehicle according to the driver'semotions, but detailed methods of determining a recommended route on thebasis of emotion information related to a driver and emotion informationrelated to other drivers with respect to a route have not been developedso far.

The information included in this Background of the Invention section isonly for enhancement of understanding of the general background of theinvention and may not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form ofsuggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to aperson skilled in the art.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Various aspects of the present invention are directed to providing avehicle configured for providing a user with a travel route generated onthe basis of a current emotion of a user and travelling informationrelated to a vehicle, and a vehicle system thereof.

Additional aspects of the present invention will be set forth in portionin the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the present invention.

Various aspects of the present invention are directed to providing avehicle including: a sensor configured to sense state informationrelated to a user and a vehicle; a communicator configured to receivetravelling information related to the vehicle corresponding to the stateinformation from an external server; and a controller configured toclassify drivers having a same tendency as the user on the basis of thetravelling information, and control at least one device provided in thevehicle on the basis of an emotion state of the user and informationrelated to the classified drivers to change the emotion state of theuser.

The vehicle may further include a display, wherein the controller may beconfigured to generate a travel route of the vehicle to improve theemotion state of the user, and displays the generated travel route onthe display.

The controller may be configured to control at least one of an audio,video, navigation (AVN) device, an air conditioning device, a vehiclesheet, and a window that are provided in the vehicle.

The controller may classify the drivers having the same tendency as theuser on the basis of the travelling information according to apredetermined criterion.

The predetermined criterion may include at least one of a time, a day ofa week, a date, a season, a weather, and a current location of thevehicle.

The controller may classify drivers who have a same emotion as the userin a same place on the basis of the travelling information, as thedrivers who have the same tendency as the user.

The controller may extract at least one factor that exerts influence onemotions of the drivers on the basis of the information related to thedrivers, and may generate the travel route on the basis of the at leastone factor.

The at least one factor may include at least one of a traffic situationof a road being travelled by the vehicle, a type of the road, and atravelling speed of the vehicle.

The vehicle may further include an inputter configured to directlyreceive an emotion state of the user from the user.

The inputter may receive an input of the emotion state of the userthrough at least one of a text, a speech, and an emoticon.

Various aspects of the present invention are directed to providing avehicle system including a vehicle that may include: a displayconfigured to display a travel route of the vehicle; a sensor configuredto detect state information related to a user and the vehicle; and acommunicator configured to transmit the state information to a server,and the server configured to classify drivers having a same tendency asthe user on the basis of travelling information received from thevehicle, generate a travel route of the vehicle on the basis of anemotion state of the user and information related to the classifieddrivers, and transmit the generated travel route to the vehicle.

The server may classify the drivers having the same tendency as the useron the basis of the state information according to a predeterminedcriterion.

The predetermined criterion may include at least one of a time, a day ofa week, a date, a season, a weather, and a current location of thevehicle.

The server may classify drivers who have a same emotion as the user in asame place on the basis of the state information, as the drivers whohave the same tendency as the user.

The server may extract at least one factor that exerts influence onemotions of the drivers on the basis of the information related to thedrivers, and may generate the travel route on the basis of the at leastone factor.

The at least one factor may include at least one of a traffic situationof a road being travelled by the vehicle, a type of the road, and atravelling speed of the vehicle.

The server may generate the travel route with a direction for removingthe at least one factor.

The server may generate the travel route toward a direction for changinga current emotion state of the user.

The vehicle may further include an inputter configured to directlyreceive an input of an emotion state of the user from the user.

The inputter may receive an input of the emotion state of the userthrough at least one of a text, a speech, and an emoticon.

The methods and apparatuses of the present invention have other featuresand advantages which will be apparent from or are set forth in moredetail in the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, andthe following Detailed Description, which together serve to explaincertain principles of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an external view exemplarily illustrating an externalappearance of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is an internal view exemplarily illustrating an internalappearance of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a vehicleaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are views exemplarily illustrating a method in whichan inputter directly receives an emotion from a user according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C and FIG. 6 are diagrams illustrating a methodof extracting factors exerting influencing on emotions of drivers havingthe same emotion according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating information related to a travel routegenerated on the basis of a current emotion state of a driver accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 8 is a diagramillustrating a result of the conventional route recommendation and atravel route generated according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a method of controlling a vehicleaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a vehiclesystem according to another exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a method of controlling a vehicle systemaccording to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

It may be understood that the appended drawings are not necessarily toscale, presenting a somewhat simplified representation of variousfeatures illustrative of the basic principles of the present invention.The specific design features of the present invention as includedherein, including, for example, specific dimensions, orientations,locations, and shapes will be determined in part by the particularlyintended application and use environment.

In the figures, reference numbers refer to the same or equivalent partsof the present invention throughout the several figures of the drawing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of thepresent invention(s), examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and described below. While the presentinvention(s) will be described in conjunction with exemplary embodimentsof the present invention, it will be understood that the presentdescription is not intended to limit the present invention(s) to thoseexemplary embodiments. On the other hand, the present invention(s)is/are intended to cover not only the exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention, but also various alternatives, modifications,equivalents and other embodiments, which may be included within thespirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appendedclaims.

The exemplary embodiments set forth herein and illustrated in theconfiguration of the present invention are only the most exemplaryembodiments and are not representative of the full the technical spiritof the present invention, so it may be understood that they may bereplaced with various equivalents and modifications at the time of thedisclosure.

The terminology used herein is for describing various exemplaryembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure.As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise.

It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,”“may include” and/or “including,” when used herein, specify the presenceof stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/orcomponents, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components,and/or groups thereof. Although the terms “first,” “second,” “A,” “B,”etc. may be used to describe various components, the terms do not limitthe corresponding components, but are used only for distinguishing onecomponent from another component.

Hereinafter, the exemplary embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings. Furthermore,parts irrelevant to description are omitted in the drawings to clearlyexplain exemplary embodiments. FIG. 1 is an external view exemplarilyillustrating an external appearance of a vehicle according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an internalview exemplarily illustrating an internal appearance of a vehicleaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Thefollowing description will be made with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2in conjunction with each other to avoid redundancy of description.

Referring to FIG. 1, the external appearance of a vehicle 100 accordingto an exemplary embodiment includes wheels 12 and 13 for moving thevehicle 100, doors 15 for shielding the internal to the vehicle 100 fromthe outside, a front glass 16 for providing a user within the vehicle100 with a front view of the vehicle 100, and side mirrors 14L and 14Rfor providing the user with a rear view of the vehicle 100.

The wheels 12 and 13 include a front wheel 12 provided at the front ofthe vehicle 100 and a rear wheel 13 provided at the rear of the vehicle100. A driving device provided within the vehicle 100 may provide thefront wheel 12 or the rear wheel 13 with a rotational force for thevehicle 100 to move forward or backward thereof. Such a driving devicemay employ an engine that generates a rotational force by burning fossilfuel, or a motor that generates a rotational force by receiving powerfrom a capacitor.

The doors 15 are rotatably mounted on the left and right sides of thevehicle 100 such that the user or the passenger may ride in the vehicle100 when the doors 15 are opened, and the internal to the vehicle 100 isshielded from the outside thereof when the doors 15 are closed.Furthermore, a knob 17 for opening or closing the door 15 may beprovided at an external portion of the vehicle 100.

The front glass 16 is mounted on the front upper side of a main vehiclebody 100 such that a user within the vehicle 100 may obtain visualinformation related to the front of the vehicle 100.

Furthermore, the side mirrors 14L and 14R include a left side mirror 14Lmounted on the left side of the vehicle 100 and a right side mirror 14Rmounted on the right side of the vehicle 100 such that the user obtainsvisual information related to lateral sides and the rear of the vehicle.

Furthermore, a headlamp 11 for securing a field of view directed forwardof the vehicle 100 may be provided at the left side and the right sideof the vehicle 100 as a left headlamp 11L and a right head lamp 11R,respectively.

Furthermore, the vehicle 100 may include a sensor that detects obstaclesor other vehicles on the rear or the lateral side of the vehicle 100.The sensor may include a detecting device, such as a proximity sensor, arain sensor for detecting rainfall and the amount of rainfall, and thelike.

The proximity sensor may transmit a detection signal at the lateral sideor rear of the vehicle 100, and may receive a reflection signalreflected from an obstacle, such as another vehicle. The presence orabsence of an obstacle on the lateral side or rear of the vehicle 100may be detected and the position of the obstacle may be detected on thebasis of the waveform of the received reflection signal. An example ofsuch a proximity sensor may employ a method of transmitting ultrasoundwaves or infrared rays to an obstacle and detecting a distance to theobstacle using ultrasound waves or infrared rays reflected by theobstacle.

Referring to FIG. 2, an Audio, Video, Navigation (AVN) including anavigation device 25 for displaying various videos or images in additionto travelling information related to the vehicle 100 may be provided ina central area of a dashboard 29.

The navigation device 25 is configured to provide the user with a routeto a destination, or provide the user with map information regarding aspecific location. Devices that perform such a function are referred toas navigation devices, but may also be referred to as various otherterms by those of ordinary skill in the art.

Accordingly, the navigation device 25 may include a display fordisplaying various images and videos including the travellinginformation related to the vehicle 100.

Furthermore, a center inputter 33 of a jog shuttle type may be providedbetween a driver seat 22L and a passenger seat 22R. The user may input acontrol command by rotating the center inputter 33, pressing the centerinputter 33, or pushing the center inputter 33, in the upper, lower,left, or right directions.

The vehicle 100 may be provided with a speaker 15 for outputting sound.

The speaker 15 may output sound required to perform an audio function, avideo function, a navigation function, and other additional functions.

In FIG. 2, the speaker 15 is illustrated as two speaks 15L and 15Rprovided at the driver seat 22L and the passenger seat 22R. However, theposition of the speaker 15 is not limited thereto and the speaker 15 maybe provided at various positions in the vehicle.

A dashboard 26 is provided with a steering wheel 27 at a side facing thedriver seat 22L, and is provided at an area adjacent to the steeringwheel 27 with a key groove 28 into which a remote control device, suchas a FOB key, is inserted. When a remote control device configured forturning on/off the ignition of the vehicle 100 is inserted into the keygroove 28, or an authentication between a remote control device and thevehicle 100 is completed via a wireless communication network, thevehicle 100 is connected to an external terminal.

Furthermore, the dash board 26 is provided with an ignition button forcontrolling on/off of the ignition of the vehicle 100. In a state inwhich a remote control device configured for controlling the vehicle 100is inserted into the key groove 28, or an authentication between anexternal terminal and the vehicle 100 succeeds via a wirelesscommunication network, when the ignition button 29 is pressed by theuser, the ignition of the vehicle 100 may be turned on.

Meanwhile, the vehicle 100 is provided with an air conditioner toperform both heating and cooling, and the temperature within the vehicle100 is controlled by discharging the heated or cooled air through an airvent 21.

In FIG. 2, the air bent 21 is illustrated as two air bents 21L and 21Rprovided at the driver seat 22L and the passenger seat 22R,respectively. However, the position of the air bent is not limitedthereto, the air bent may be provided in various positions inside thevehicle.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the vehicle 10according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.4 is a view exemplarily illustrating a method in which an inputter 120directly receives an emotion from a user according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the vehicle 100 according to an embodiment of thepresent invention includes a sensor 110 for detecting and acquiringinformation related to a user, an inputter 120 for receiving informationrelated to the user, a communicator 130 for receiving travellinginformation and traffic information related to the vehicle 100 from anexternal server, a storage 140 for storing information related to thevehicle 100, a display 150 for displaying travelling information and atravel route of the vehicle 100, and a controller 160 for generating atravel route on the basis of the received travelling information andtraffic information.

The sensor 110 may detect an emotion state of the user, internalinformation related to the vehicle 100, and external information relatedto the vehicle 100 in real time, and transmit a result of the detectingto the controller 160.

Information related to a user may include information related to acurrent emotion state of the user, in detail, various emotion states ofthe user, for example, anger, sadness, boredom, pleasure, irritation,weariness, and the like. The types of emotions are not limited thereto,and may include various other emotions that a person may feel.

Accordingly, the sensor 110 may include various sensors for detectingand acquiring user's emotions. For example, the sensor 110 may include aface detecting device, an eyeball detecting device, a device configuredfor detecting a change in heart rate, and sensors for detecting a speechand a behavior of the user, and may determine the emotion state of theuser on the basis of the information acquired by the sensor.

Information related to the vehicle 100 may include vehicle information,vehicle internal information, and vehicle external information.

The vehicle information may include information related to a state ofthe vehicle and information indicating whether the functions operate.

In detail, the vehicle information may include information related tothe speed, acceleration, and deceleration of the vehicle 100,information related to the operation and pressure of accelerator/brakepedals, information related to the seat position, information related tothe operation state of heat wire/ventilation functions, informationrelated to an operation of an air conditioning system, informationrelated to the indoor brightness, information related to the indoor finedust level, and information related to the window opening or closingstate, and the like.

The vehicle internal information may represent information related to abehavior which is shown by the user or passenger in the vehicle 100. Indetail, the vehicle internal information may include information relatedto whether a passenger is present, information related to a state ofconversation, information related to a multimedia device operates, andinformation related to the type of contents when a multimedia deviceoperates.

The vehicle external information may include all types of externalinformation related to the driving of the vehicle 100.

In detail, the vehicle external information may include current timeinformation, current location information, traffic situation informationrelated to a road travelled by the vehicle 100, road information,weather information, and information related to an outdoor event thatoccurs on a travel route of the vehicle 100. The traffic situationinformation may include information indicating whether the flow oftraffic is smooth or is in congestion, and the road information mayinclude information related to a traffic light, a crosswalk, a type andform of the road, and a speed limit of the road. The inputter 120 mayreceive information related to the user and emotion information from theuser.

The information related to the user may include information related tothe user's body, including at least one of information related to sex,age, weight, and height, and such information may be input directly fromthe user.

The emotion information may include information related to the emotionthat the user is currently feeling. Accordingly, the user may directlyinput his or her emotion state, for example, anger, sadness, boredom,pleasure, and the like through the inputter 120.

The user may directly input his or her emotion by speech or may inputhis or her emotion using texts or emoticons.

For example, the current emotion of the user may be input by selectingone of o+B43f emoticons 151 a to 151 i displayed on the display 140 asshown in FIG. 4A, the current emotion of the user may be input byselecting one of items 152 a to 152 i displayed on the display 140 asshown in FIG. 4B. Although FIG. 4 is illustrated as selecting one of aplurality of emotions the present invention is not limited thereto, anda plurality of emotions may be simultaneously selected.

The communicator 130 may transmit and receive the travelling informationand the traffic information related to the vehicle 100 with the externalserver.

In detail, the communicator 130 may transmit information related to theuser and the vehicle 100 detected by the sensor 110 and informationrelated to the user received through the inputter 120 to the externalserver, and may receive travelling information related to the vehicle100 corresponding to the transmitted information.

The travelling information related to the vehicle 100 representsinformation corresponding to the information related to the user and thevehicle 100 transmitted by the communicator 130, and includesinformation related to a road on which the vehicle 100 is currentlytravelling, and information related to emotions felt by other drivers onthe road on which the vehicle 100 is currently travelling.

Accordingly, the communicator 130 may perform communication with anexternal server using various methods. Various communication methods,such as Radio Frequency (RF), Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), Bluetooth,Zigbee, near field communication (NFC), Ultra-Wide Band (UWB), and thelike may be used to transmit and receive information to or from anexternal server. A method of performing communication with an externalserver is not limited thereto, and may be implemented in other methodsas long as it can communicate with an external server.

Although the communicator 130 is illustrated as a single component fortransmitting and receiving signals in FIG. 4, the present invention isnot limited thereto. For example, a transmitter for transmitting signalsand a receiver for receiving signals may be separately provided.

Although the sensor 110 and the communicator 130 are illustrated asseparate components in FIG. 4, the sensor 110 may further serve as thecommunicator 130, or the communicator 130 may further serve as thesensor 110.

The storage 140 may store various types of information related to thevehicle 100.

The storage 140 may store basic information related to variousmechanisms and devices provided in the vehicle 100, and may also storeinformation acquired by the sensor 110 and the inputter 120. Thecontroller 160 may generate a travel route on the basis of theinformation stored in the storage 140.

Accordingly, the storage 140 may include a nonvolatile memory device,such as a cache, a read only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), anerasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmableROM (EEPROM), and a flash memory, a volatile memory device, such as arandom access memory (RAM), or other storage media, such as a hard diskdrive (HDD), a CD-ROM, and the like, but the implementation of thestorage 140 is not limited thereto. The storage 140 may be a memoryimplemented as a chip separated from the processor, which will bedescribed below in connection with the controller 160, or may beimplemented as a single chip integrated with the processor.

The display 150 may display various pieces of information including thetravelling information and the travel route of the vehicle, and a screendisplaying the information may be controlled by the controller 150.

Accordingly, the display 150 may include a display panel forrepresenting such various pieces of information. The display panel mayinclude a cathode ray tube (CRT) display panel, a liquid crystal display(LCD) panel, a light emitting diode (LED) panel, an organic lightemitting diode (OLED) panel, a plasma display panel (PDP), a fieldemission display (FED) panel, and the like.

The display 150 may be implemented as a touch screen that receives auser's input through a touch, and in the instant case, the display 150may include a display panel for displaying an image and a touch panelfor receiving a touch input.

The controller 160 may control various devices provided in the vehicle100, generate a travel route of the vehicle 100, and display thegenerated route on the display 150.

The controller 160 may generate a travel route of the vehicle 100 toimprove the emotion state of the user and display the generated travelroute on the display 150, or may control at least one of the AVN device,the air conditioner, the vehicle seat, and the windows.

For example, the controller 160 may control the genre or volume of themusic played in the vehicle 100 or may control other multimedia devicesto improve the emotion state of the user. Furthermore, the controller160 may control the air conditioner or the windows to improve theemotion state of the user.

In detail, the controller 160 classifies drivers having the sametendency as the user on the basis of the travelling information receivedthrough the communicator 120, generates a travel route of the vehicle onthe basis of an emotion state of the user and information related to theclassified drivers, and display the generated travel route on thedisplay 150.

In detail, the controller 160 classifies drivers having the sametendency as the user on the basis of travelling information receivedthrough the 120, generates a travel route of the vehicle 100 on thebasis of the emotion state of the user and information related to theclassified drivers, and displays the generated travel route on thedisplay 150.

In detail, the controller 150 may classify drivers having the sametendency as the user on the basis of the travelling informationincluding about information related to other drivers, which is receivedfrom the external server, according to a predetermined criterion, andmay generate a travel route on the basis of the classified drivers. Thatis, the controller 160 may group drivers by the same tendency as theuser, and generate a travel route configured for improving the emotionof the user on the basis of information related to the grouped drivers.The predetermined criterion may include at least one of a time, a day ofa week, a date, a season, a weather, and a current location of thevehicle 100.

According an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thecontroller 160 may classify drivers having the same emotions as the userin the same place, and extract factors that exert influence on theemotions of the drivers. Details thereof will be further described belowwith reference to FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, and FIG. 5C.

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B are diagram illustrating a method of extractingfactors exerting influence on the emotions of drivers. FIG. 5A is adiagram illustrating factors that exerts influence on the emotions ofthree drivers who have felt anger between 12 am to 10 pm in the sameplace, named Bang-Bang intersection.

Referring to FIG. 5A, driver a has felt anger in Bang-Bang intersectionbetween 12 am to 10 pm on a weekday, and in the instant case, weather,ambient noise, traffic congestion and the number of traffic lights serveas main factors that have caused anger to driver a.

Driver b has felt anger in Bang-Bang intersection between 12 am to 10 pmon a weekday, and in the instant case, outdoor brightness, humidity,traffic congestion, and the number of traffic lights serve as mainfactors that have caused anger to driver b.

Driver c has felt anger in Bang-Bang intersection between 12 am to 10 pmon a weekday, and in the instant case, a nearby tourist attraction, anearby event, traffic congestion, and the number of traffic lights serveas main factors that have caused anger to driver c.

Accordingly, the controller 160 determines that the traffic congestionand the number of traffic lights are main factors of anger caused to thedrivers in Bang-Bang intersection between 12 am to 10 pm on a weekday incommon.

FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating factors that exert influence on theemotions of three drivers who have felt pleasure between 9 pm to 12 pmin the same place, named Freedom Avenue.

Referring to FIG. 5B, driver a has felt pleasure in Freedom Avenuebetween 9 pm to 12 pm on a weekday, and in the instant case, weather,vehicle speed, and flow of traffic serve as main factors that havecaused the pleasure to driver a.

Driver b has felt pleasure in Freedom Avenue between 9 pm to 12 pm on aweekday, and in the instant case, time, vehicle speed, and flow oftraffic serve as main factors that have caused the pleasure to driver b.

Driver c has felt pleasure in Freedom Avenue between 9 pm to 12 pm on aweekday, and in the instant case, nearby event, vehicle speed, and flowof traffic serve as main factors that have caused the pleasure to driverc.

Accordingly, the controller 160 determines that the vehicle speed andthe flow of traffic are main factors of the pleasure caused to thedrivers in Freedom Avenue between 9 pm to 12 pm on a weekday in common.

FIG. 5C is a diagram illustrating factors that exert influence on theemotions of three drivers who have felt weariness between 9 pm to 12 pmin a place, named the Uiwang research institute.

Referring to FIG. 5C, driver a has felt weariness near the Uiwangresearch institute between 9 pm to 12 pm on a weekday, and in theinstant case, the weather, the flow of traffic, and the Wangson lakeadjacent to the Uiwang research institute serve as main factors thathave caused weariness to driver a.

Driver b has felt weariness near the Uiwang research institute between 9pm to 12 pm on a weekday, and in the instant case, the time, the flow oftraffic, and the Wangson lake serve as main factors that have causedweariness to driver b.

Driver c has felt weariness near the Uiwang research institute between 9pm to 12 pm on a weekday, and in the instant case, the temperature andthe Wangson lake serve as main factors that have caused weariness todriver c.

Accordingly, the controller 160 determines that the flow of traffic andthe Wangson lake are main factors of the weariness caused to the driversnear the Uiwang research institute between 9 pm to 12 pm on a weekday incommon.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a method of classifying drivers havingthe same emotion as the user in the same place on the basis oftravelling information, and extracting factors that exert influence onthe emotions of the drivers according to another exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention.

The communicator 160 may receive travelling information related to otherdrivers at the Kangnam intersection from an external server. In detail,the communicator 160 may receive information related to emotionsgenerated in a place, named the Kangnam intersection.

For example, referring to FIG. 6, the communicator 160 may receiveinformation related to emotions, traffic situation, acceleration,traffic lights, weather, and the like from an external server.

As to describe the method with reference to drivers A to D, thecommunicator 160 may receive information related to drivers A to D whohave felt different emotions in the Kangnam intersection. Among driversA to D, drivers A, B, and C who have felt the same emotion of anger areclassified into the same group, and in the instant case, trafficsituation, acceleration information, and the number of traffic lightsserve as main factors causing the anger.

Although the emotion state is described with reference to anger in FIG.6, the emotion state according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention is not limited thereto, and may include sadness, boredom,pleasure, irritation, weariness, and the like. The types of emotion arenot limited thereto, and various emotions felt by human may be includedin an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Furthermore, although the method is described with reference to a placein FIG. 6, drivers having felt the same emotion as the user may beclassified not only based on a place but only based on a day of week ora time.

Furthermore, the factors which may cause emotions may include thetraffic situation of a road, the type of a road, the number of trafficlights, the speed limit, the travelling speed of the vehicle, theweather, and the temperature.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating information related to a travel routegenerated on the basis of a current emotion state of a driver accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is adiagram illustrating a result of the conventional route recommendationand a result of the route recommendation of the vehicle 100 according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, the driver currently feels an anger, at the Gangnamintersection, and the cause of the anger is identified as heavy trafficcongestion.

Accordingly, in the instant case, the controller 160 may generate atravel route toward a direction which may remove such a factor. Indetail, currently, the Kyungbu Expressway has a smooth trafficsituation, and thus travelling the Kyungbu Expressway may improve theemotion of the driver. Accordingly, the controller 160 generates a routefor the driver to drive the Kyungbu Expressway, and displays thegenerated route on the display 170.

In other words, according to the conventional travel route providingtechnology, the user is only provided with a route having a shortestdistance or shortest time on the basis of a destination.

However, the vehicle 100 according to the exemplary embodiment providesa route not only based on the destination but also based on the emotionstate of the user toward a direction which may improve the emotion stateof the user, so that the user may drive with pleasure.

In other words, referring to FIG. 8, the conventional technologyprovides only a route having a shortest distance or a minimum time to adestination, so that the user may be guided to an undesirable routehaving a congestion zone, a city driving, and a narrow road. However,the vehicle 100 according to the exemplary embodiment may provide aroute which may convert the user's emotion from anger to pleasure.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a method of controlling the vehicle 100according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 9, the vehicle 100 may receive information related tothe user and state information related to the user and the vehicle 100(S110 and S120).

The information related to the user may include information related tothe user's body. For example, the information related to the user mayinclude information related to at least one of sex, age, weight, andheight, and such information may be input directly from the user.

The state information related to the user may include informationrelated to the current emotion of the user, for example, anger, sadness,boredom, pleasure, and the like. Such information may be acquiredthrough various sensors provided in the vehicle 100, or may be directlyreceived through the inputter 120 from the user.

As such, the vehicle 100 may transmit the state information related tothe user and the vehicle to the external server, and may receivetravelling information related to the vehicle 100 corresponding to thestate information from the external server (S130).

The travelling information may include emotion information felt by otherdrivers in a place in which the vehicle 100 is currently travelling andinformation associated with the emotion information.

The vehicle 100 may classify drivers having the same tendency as theuser on the basis of the travelling information (S140), and extractfactors exerting influence on the emotions of the drivers (S150).

In detail, the vehicle 100 may classify and group drivers having thesame tendency as the user according to a predetermined criterion, andextract factors that exert influence on the emotions of the user on thebasis of information related to the classified drivers. Thepredetermined criterion may include at least one of a time, a day of aweek, a date, a season, a weather, and a current location of thevehicle.

The method of classifying drivers having the same tendency and themethod of extracting factors exerting influence on the emotions of thedrivers have been described above with reference to FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B andFIGS. 5C and 6, and details of parts identical to those described abovewill be omitted.

As such, the vehicle 100 may generate a travel route toward a directionwhich may improve the emotion of the user and display the generatedroute on the display 150 (S160 and S170).

The direction configured for improving the emotion of the user may beachieved such that factors exerting negative influence on the emotion ofthe user are removed, and when the current emotion state of the user isgood, factors exerting the positive influence on the emotion of the userare maintained.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a vehiclesystem 10 according to another exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 10, the vehicle system 1000 according an exemplaryembodiment may include: a vehicle 200 including a sensor 210 fordetecting and acquiring information related to a user, an inputter 220for receiving the information related to the user, a communicator 230for receiving information related to a travel route of the vehicle 200from a server 300, a storage 240 for storing information related to thevehicle 200, a display 250 for displaying travelling information and atravel route of the vehicle 200, and a controller 260 for controllingvarious devices of the vehicle 200; and the server 300 for generating atravel route on the basis of the information received from thecommunicator 230 and transmitting the generated travel route to thecommunicator 230.

In the description of the vehicle system 1000, the sensor 210, theinputter 220, the communicator 230, the storage 240, and the display 250are identical to the sensor 110, the inputter 120, the communicator 130,the storage 140, and the display 150 described above with reference toFIG. 3. and details of the parts identical to those described above willbe omitted, and the following description will be made in relation tothe server 300.

In the vehicle system 1000, the server 300 may generate a travel routeon the basis of the information received from the communicator 230.

In detail, the server 300 may classify drivers having the same tendencyon the basis of travelling information, generate a travel route of thevehicle 200 on the basis of an emotion state of the user and pieces ofinformation related to the classified drivers, and transmit thegenerated travel route to the communicator 230.

The server 300 may receive traffic information related to other driversfrom other vehicles, and store the received traffic information, and mayclassify and analyze the received pieces of information. Accordingly,the server 300 may classify drivers having the same tendency as the useron the basis of the received information related to the user and theother users according to a predetermined criterion, and may generate atravel route on the basis of information related to the classifieddrivers.

The server 300 may classify and group drivers having the same tendencyas the user, and generate a travel route which may improve the emotionof the user on the basis of information related to the grouped drivers.The predetermined criterion may include at least one of a time, a day ofa week, a date, weather, and the current location of the vehicle.

Furthermore, the server 300 may classify drivers having the same emotionas the user in the same place, extract factors exerting influence on theemotions of the drivers, and then generate a travel route toward adirection which may improve the emotion of the user.

The direction configured for improving the emotion of the user may beachieved such that factors exerting negative influence on the emotion ofthe user are removed, and when the current emotion state of the user isgood, factors exerting the positive influence on the emotion of the userare maintained.

The method of classifying drivers having the same tendency and themethod of extracting factors exerting influence on the emotions of thedriver have been described above with reference to FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B andFIGS. 5C and 6, and details of parts identical to those described abovewill be omitted.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a method of controlling the vehiclesystem 1000 according to another exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 11, the vehicle 200 may receive information related tothe user and sense state information related to the user and the vehicle200 (S210 and S220).

The vehicle 200 may transmit the detected state information related tothe user and the vehicle to the server 300 (S230).

The server 300 having received the information from the vehicle 200 mayclassify drivers having the same tendency as the user on the basis ofthe received information, and extract factors that exert influence onthe emotions of the drivers on the basis of information related to theclassified drivers (S240 and S250).

In detail, the vehicle 100 may classify drivers by grouping drivershaving the same tendency as the user according to a predeterminedcriterion, and extract factors that exert influence on the emotions ofthe user on the basis of information related to the classified drivers.The predetermined criterion may include at least one of a time, a day ofa week, a date, a season, a weather, and a current location of thevehicle.

As such, the server 300 may generate a travel route toward a directionwhich may improve the emotion of the user and transmit the generatedroute to the vehicle 200 (S260 and S270).

The vehicle 200 having received the travel route from the server 300 maydisplay the received travel route on the display 250 (S280).

In the above, the configuration and control method of the vehicle 100and the vehicle system 1000 have been described.

The conventional route providing technology only provides the user witha route having a shortest distance or shortest time only based on adestination, without providing an emotion route corresponding to theemotion of the user.

However, the vehicle 100 and the vehicle system 1000 according to theexemplary embodiment provide a route toward a direction for improvingthe emotion state on the basis of the emotion state, rather thanproviding a route only based on a destination, so that the user maydrive with pleasure.

As is apparent from the above, the vehicle and the vehicle systemaccording to the exemplary embodiment can allow the user to drive withpleasure by providing the user with a route based on the user'semotional state toward a direction which may improve the emotional statein providing the user with the travel route, rather than providing aroute based on the destination.

For convenience in explanation and accurate definition in the appendedclaims, the terms “upper”, “lower”, “inner”, “outer”, “up”, “down”,“upper”, “lower”, “upwards”, “downwards”, “front”, “rear”, “back”,“inside”, “outside”, “inwardly”, “outwardly”, “internal”, “external”,“inner”, “outer”, “forwards”, and “backwards” are used to describefeatures of the exemplary embodiments with reference to the positions ofsuch features as displayed in the figures.

The foregoing descriptions of specific exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention have been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit thepresent invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteachings. The exemplary embodiments were chosen and described toexplain certain principles of the present invention and their practicalapplication, to enable others skilled in the art to make and utilizevarious exemplary embodiments of the present invention, as well asvarious alternatives and modifications thereof. It is intended that thescope of the present invention be defined by the Claims appended heretoand their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vehicle comprising: a sensor configured todetect state information related to a user and a vehicle; a communicatorconfigured to receive travelling information related to the vehiclecorresponding to the state information from an external server; and acontroller connected to the sensor and the communicator and configuredto: classify drivers having a same tendency as the user on a basis ofthe travelling information; determine common state information that hascaused an emotion state to the classified drivers having the sametendency, to be a main factor; and control at least one device providedin the vehicle on a basis of the emotion state, information related tothe classified drivers, and the main factor to change the emotion stateof the user.
 2. The vehicle of claim 1, further including a displayconnected to the controller, wherein the controller is configured togenerate a travel route of the vehicle to improve the emotion state ofthe user, and to display the generated travel route on the display. 3.The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller controls at least one ofan audio, video, navigation (AVN) device, an air conditioning device, avehicle sheet, and a window that are provided in the vehicle.
 4. Thevehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller classifies the drivers havingthe same tendency as the user on a basis of the travelling informationaccording to a predetermined criterion.
 5. The vehicle of claim 4,wherein the predetermined criterion includes at least one of a time, aday of a week, a date, a season, a weather, and a current location ofthe vehicle.
 6. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controllerclassifies drivers who have a same emotion as the user in a same placeon a basis of the travelling information, as the drivers who have thesame tendency as the user.
 7. The vehicle of claim 2, wherein thecontroller extracts at least one factor that exerts influence onemotions of drivers on a basis of the information related to thedrivers, and generates the travel route on a basis of the at least onefactor.
 8. The vehicle of claim 7, wherein the at least one factorincludes at least one of a traffic situation of a road being travelledby the vehicle, a type of the road, and a travelling speed of thevehicle.
 9. The vehicle of claim 1, further including an inputterconnected to the controller and configured to directly receive anemotion state of the user from the user.
 10. The vehicle of claim 9,wherein the inputter receives an input of the emotion state of the userthrough at least one of a text, a speech, and an emoticon.
 11. Thevehicle of claim 1, wherein, when the main factor to be improved exists,the controller is configured to control the main factor to be improved.12. A vehicle system comprising: a vehicle including: a displayconfigured to display a travel route of the vehicle; a sensor configuredto detect state information related to a user and the vehicle; and acommunicator configured to transmit the state information to a serverconnected to the communicator; and the server configured to classifydrivers having a same tendency as the user on a basis of travellinginformation received from the vehicle, determine common stateinformation that has caused an emotion state to the classified drivershaving the same tendency to be a main factor, generate a travel route ofthe vehicle on a basis of the emotion state, information related to theclassified drivers, and the main factor, and transmit the generatedtravel route to the vehicle.
 13. The vehicle system of claim 12, whereinthe server classifies the drivers having the same tendency as the useron a basis of the state information according to a predeterminedcriterion.
 14. The vehicle system of claim 13, wherein the predeterminedcriterion includes at least one of a time, a day of a week, a date, aseason, a weather, and a current location of the vehicle.
 15. Thevehicle system of claim 12, wherein the server classifies drivers whohave a same emotion as the user in a same place on a basis of the stateinformation, as the drivers who have the same tendency as the user. 16.The vehicle system of claim 12, wherein the server extracts at least onefactor that exerts influence on emotions of the drivers on a basis ofthe information related to the drivers, and generates the travel routeon a basis of the at least one factor.
 17. The vehicle system of claim16, wherein the at least one factor includes at least one of a trafficsituation of a road being travelled by the vehicle, a type of the road,and a travelling speed of the vehicle.
 18. The vehicle system of claim16, wherein the server generates the travel route with a direction forremoving the at least one factor.
 19. The vehicle system of claim 12,wherein the server generates the travel route toward a direction forchanging a current emotion state of the user.
 20. The vehicle system ofclaim 12, wherein the vehicle further includes an inputter configured todirectly receive an input of an emotion state of the user from the user.21. The vehicle system of claim 20, wherein the inputter receives aninput of the emotion state of the user through at least one of a text, aspeech, and an emoticon.
 22. The vehicle system of claim 12, wherein,when the main factor to be improved exists, the vehicle, controls themain factor to be improved.